Lionel Messi to stay at Barcelona

Lionel Messi will stay at Barcelona until the end of 2020-21 season according to TyC in Argentina.

He is expected to release a statement on his future at 4pm.  

The 33-year-old club captain will confirm he is finally abandoning attempts at a move to Manchester City this summer in a recorded message later today according to Argentine media that first announced he had demanded to leave.

Messi appeared to be willing to fight on when his father issued a statement reiterating his claim that he does not have a €700m release clause. 

Messi’s father Jorge issued the statement on Friday that appears to quote directly from his contract stating: ‘The release clause will not apply when the unilateral resolution of the contract comes into effect after the end of the 2019-20 season.’

The statement also slammed La Liga for wading in on the debate last week and claiming Barcelona were right to demand €700m from anyone who wanted to sign Barcelona's captain.

‘We don’t know what contract they have analysed,’ it said. Also condemning their ‘obvious lack of impartiality’ in the matter.

But the statement from Messi’s father appears to have been the last shot fired before the white flag was raised. 

Not having a release clause could have drastically changed things for Manchester City if the Barcelona captain had been prepared to rip up his contract and let a tribunal decide his transfer fee.

But La Liga responded immediately reiterating their position and accusing the Messi statement of having taken the clause quoted from his contract out of context.

La Liga put its weight behind Barcelona’s claim Messi was under contract for one more year and with a €700m buy-out clause, with a statement issued August 30.

The statement said: ‘The contract is currently in force and has a release clause applicable in the event that Messi decides to unilaterally terminate it.’

La Liga’s statement also threatened to block his move away although that would be beyond its juristition if Messi moved from Spain to England.